Page:A critical and exegetical commentary on Genesis (1910).djvu/345

(Hebrew characters), 12³; (Hebrew characters), (Hebrew characters), 12^{11. 13} 13^{8. 9. 14}; (Hebrew characters), 12^{13. 16}; (Hebrew characters), 12¹⁸; (Hebrew characters), 13^{10. 11}. It falls naturally into three sections: (a) 12^{1-4a. 6-8}; (b) 12¹⁰-13¹; (c) 13^{2. 5. 7-11a. 12b_β-18}; 12⁹ and 13^{3. 4} being redactional links (R^J) uniting b to a on the one side and c on the other. The purely mechanical connexion of b with a and c was first shown by We. (Comp.² 24 f.).^[1] The removal of b restores the direct and natural sequence of c upon a, and gets rid of the redactor's artificial theory of a double visit to Bethel with a series of aimless wanderings between. In the main narrative Abram's journey is continuously southward, from Shechem to Bethel (where the separation from Lot takes place), and thence to his permanent abode in Hebron. In the inserted episode (b), Abram simply moves down to Egypt from his home in the Negeb and back again.—As to the origin of 12^10-20, see p. 251 below.

XII. 1-8. The journey to Canaan and the promise of the Land.—1. The opening v. strikes a note peculiarly characteristic of the story of Abram—the trial of faith. There is intentional pathos in the lingering description of the things he is to leave: thy land, thy kindred, and thy father's house; and a corresponding significance in the vagueness with which the goal is indicated: to a land which I will show thee. Obedience under such conditions marks Abram as the hero of faith, and the ideal of Hebrew piety (Heb. 11^8f.).—2, 3. The blessings here promised express the aspirations of the age in which the narrative originated, and reveal the people's consciousness of its exceptional destiny among the nations of the world. They breathe the spirit of optimism which is on the whole characteristic of the Yahwistic treatment of the national legends, as contrasted with the primitive and cosmopolitan mythology of chs. 2-11, whose sombre tone is only once (9^26f.) relieved by a similar gleam of hope.—and will make thy name great] It has been noticed that the order in which the names of the patriarchs emerge in the prophetic literature is the reverse of that in Genesis, and that Abraham is first mentioned in Ezk. 33²⁴. The inference has been drawn that the figure of

1. (Hebrew characters) (22² [E]; cf. Ca. 2^{10. 13})] see G-K. § 119 s.—On (Hebrew characters) (G συγγενεία) see 11²⁸.—2. (Hebrew characters)] Impve. expressing consequence (G-K. § 110 i) is here questionable, because the preceding vbs. are simple futures. The pointing as consec. pf. ((Hebrew characters)) was suggested by Giesebrecht

1. So Di. Ho. Gu.